April 3
JOHN 3:16
-The most quoted verse in all of the Bible is John 3:16, which states, … For God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life … The Young’s
Literal Translation reads as follows - For God did so love the world, that His Son - the only begotten - He gave, that every
one who is believing in Him may not perish, but may have life age-during (the life of the ages) … The Concordant
Literal New Testament reads as follows - For thus God loves the world, so that He gives His only begotten Son, that every
one who is believing in Him should not be perishing, but may be having life eonian ( the life of the
ages ) …
-Notice how that the Young’s Literal and the Concordant Literal use the words … IS BELIEVING and BE PERISHING.
We must understand what it means to perish and to believe. We must see and understand that we are born in a perished condition.
Perishing is not so much something that is going to happen to you if you do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, as much
as it is something that has already happened, and IS HAPPENING TO YOU BECAUSE OF THE NATURE THAT YOU WERE BORN WITH, A NATURE
THAT YOU INHERITED FROM ADAM!
-So … God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance ( 2nd Peter 3:9
). In other words, God is not willing that you BE PERISHING, or that you remain in your perished condition. Remember …
TO BE CARNALLY MINDED IS DEATH! It is important for us to see that perishing and death are first and foremost SPIRITUAL CONDITIONS
that men find themselves in at birth. This condition continues on UNTIL they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember …
Jesus said, … LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR DEAD … He was referring to:
1. SPIRITUAL DEATH
2. PHYSICAL DEATH
-He that IS BELIEVING has entered into the life of the ages. We have passed, and are passing from death to life. This refers
to God’s life inserted into the ages of time. We are being brought from the carnal mind ( to perish, death ) to the
mind of Christ ( to be spiritually minded, the life of the ages ).
-In conclusion, we see that Jesus came to save us out of, and through A DEATH ( the carnal mind ) IN WHICH WE WERE ALREADY
INVOLVED! The scriptures tell us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and so we should, for in doing this we are BEING SAVED
from sin ( missing the mark of God’s nature ) and death ( the carnal mind ). WHAT A SAVIOR! Believe, and enter into
…
-THE LIFE OF THE AGES!-
